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“The Barn” at Thornhill House

We are so excited to finally be able to talk about our gorgeous Airbnb that we are offering here in our little part of the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire countryside. Over the years we have travelled to many places and stayed in some amazing Airbnbs both in the UK and abroad. With our kids no longer using the space and our Ukrainian guests having moved on, we have completely refurbished the space to something we would be thrilled to stay in ourselves (and I’m fussy, ask my family and friends!).

It is a completely independent annexe that sits within the grounds of our home. It has an open plan lounge/bedroom on the first floor and a full kitchen with a shower room on the ground floor. I’ve taken a lot of time decking it in nice muted tones with pops of colour so as to appeal to as many people as possible, as I said, my brief was “make it the Airbnb you want to stay in.” We have provided a plush carpet in the bedroom space with soft white linen on a Kingsize bed. The living space is an oak floor with a navy blue sofa and armchair. The choice may be to read, play board games or watch Netflix, or just chat as you wish. In winter, it is just as cosy with the woodburner providing that all important heat as well as ambiance. The kitchen is fitted with everything you’d need to cook for yourself as I know myself, it’s nice to have the option of cooking rather than always eating out or ordering in. We also add to your package providing a breakfast basket on the first morning of your stay that consists of sourdough bread, butter, homemade jam and honey, cereal and juice. There is also a supply of tea and coffee, you see, getting the essentials right is crucial (I don’t function without really good coffee!).

We love where we live, it’s a beautiful little village with a fantastic pub serving food, a 14th century church and several gorgeous walks. We are on the edge of the Cotswolds with its chocolate box style villages such as Stow on the Wold or Bourton on the Water. The market town of Chipping Norton is only a 20 minute drive and from there you have antique heaven or Daylesford Farm shop or even Burford just another 20 minutes drive (it has a phenomenal garden centre and cheese shop!). In another direction there is Warwick castle or Leamington Spa, or a bit further (around 40 minutes by train 1hr by road) we have the bustling city of Birmingham and the airport. Best of all, we are literally 3 miles from the M40 motorway so easy to get to.

Bigger towns and cities are Oxford, just a 15 minute train journey, Stratford upon Avon with The Royal Shakespeare Theatre among its claims to fame. London is an easy day trip, taking just over an hour on the train.

We also sit in good striking distance of some of the local festivals and events, many of which I’ll list below.

• Stratford Literary Festival: May
• Towcester Greyhound Derby: dates in May and June
• Grand Prix at Silverstone: Early July
• Wilderness Festival: Early August
• Fairport Convention, Cropredy: Early August
• Towersey Festival: August Bank Holiday weekend

As well as these events, Banbury itself puts on a big canal day, a couple of food festivals, one in the Spring, the other in the Autumn and a Victorian Christmas Market. There is also a huge multiplex cinema with a couple of bowling alleys and a climbing wall.

If you’re into activity holidays then we are well situated for walkers and cyclists in particular. We sit along the Jurassic Way and are not far from other well known paths such as the Cotswold Way and the D’Arcy Dalton Way. We are also a day trip from the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire, so there are great walks to be had there too. Set off early, take in some spectacular views on your hike and end with a meal or a drink in one of the pubs back where you parked up.

Even better, we are just off the canal path from Birmingham through to Oxford, so if you are planning a long distance end to end walk, we are just over halfway and a great place to stop for a couple of days.

Within the town there is a Lido open from May through to around October, and a couple of sports centres, we also host a weekly Parkrun in Spice Ball Park.

As hosts we know how useful it is to have hosts to hand, either on site or available to help with information about the area should you need our help. As avid walkers ourselves (we have both walked the length of Hadrian’s wall, much of the South West and Thames Paths, Mount Batur in Bali and Rachel is going to climb up some of Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador later in the year), we are so happy to be able to help you find a good route, talk about National Trust properties, advise on restaurants or take aways that we’ve used and enjoy, having lived here now for nearly 14 years, we feel truly embedded in the life in our wonderful village.

Anyway, I hope we’ll begin to fill up and be able to share the delights of our little part of the world with others. If you are interested, you can see it here and book online at Airbnb. or you can send me an email thebarn@thornhill-house.co.uk and I’ll get back to you to answer any questions you might have.

www.airbnb.co.uk/h/thebarnatthornhillhouse